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Soft-shell clam
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Soft-shell clam
Soft-shell clams (American English) or Sand gaper (British English/Europe), scientific name Mya arenaria, popularly called "steamers", "softshells", "piss clams", "Ipswich clams", or "Essex clams", are a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Myidae.
Right and left valve of the same specimen:
These clams live buried in the sediment on tidal flats. While they are common in muddy areas, their name "arenaria" means sandy and they prefer a combination of sandy and muddy areas. They are well known as a food item on the coast of New England in the Western Atlantic Ocean; however, the range extends much farther north to Canada and south to the Southern states.
They are also found in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, for example in the UK, as well as in the North Sea's Wadden Sea (where they are the dominant large clam).
In Soviet Union, the species was first detected in 1966, and, soon after, their population exploded in the northwestern and western part of the Black Sea and in the Sea of Azov.
From 1921 to 2021, the species was abundant in Kola Bay. In modern Russia, the species was discovered at Tuloma river for the first time. Ever since, the highest abundance was recorded from Khlebnaya, while the lowest was at Belokamennaya, with and Vayenga bay being empty of the species.
This species has become invasive on the Pacific coast of North America, including Alaska, Canada and the continental United States. However M. arenaria originated in the Pacific Ocean during the Miocene. It extended its range in the early Pliocene to the Atlantic, including European waters. The Pacific and European populations became extinct some time in the early Pleistocene, leaving only the Northwest Atlantic population, which subsequently spread via humans to its current distribution. It also occurs in the Mediterranean Sea.
Mya arenaria has a calcium carbonate shell that is thin and easily broken, hence the name "soft-shells" (as opposed to its beach-dwelling neighbors in some regions, the thick-shelled quahog).
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Soft-shell clam
Soft-shell clams (American English) or Sand gaper (British English/Europe), scientific name Mya arenaria, popularly called "steamers", "softshells", "piss clams", "Ipswich clams", or "Essex clams", are a species of edible saltwater clam, a marine bivalve mollusk in the family Myidae.
Right and left valve of the same specimen:
These clams live buried in the sediment on tidal flats. While they are common in muddy areas, their name "arenaria" means sandy and they prefer a combination of sandy and muddy areas. They are well known as a food item on the coast of New England in the Western Atlantic Ocean; however, the range extends much farther north to Canada and south to the Southern states.
They are also found in the Eastern Atlantic Ocean, for example in the UK, as well as in the North Sea's Wadden Sea (where they are the dominant large clam).
In Soviet Union, the species was first detected in 1966, and, soon after, their population exploded in the northwestern and western part of the Black Sea and in the Sea of Azov.
From 1921 to 2021, the species was abundant in Kola Bay. In modern Russia, the species was discovered at Tuloma river for the first time. Ever since, the highest abundance was recorded from Khlebnaya, while the lowest was at Belokamennaya, with and Vayenga bay being empty of the species.
This species has become invasive on the Pacific coast of North America, including Alaska, Canada and the continental United States. However M. arenaria originated in the Pacific Ocean during the Miocene. It extended its range in the early Pliocene to the Atlantic, including European waters. The Pacific and European populations became extinct some time in the early Pleistocene, leaving only the Northwest Atlantic population, which subsequently spread via humans to its current distribution. It also occurs in the Mediterranean Sea.
Mya arenaria has a calcium carbonate shell that is thin and easily broken, hence the name "soft-shells" (as opposed to its beach-dwelling neighbors in some regions, the thick-shelled quahog).
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